BULLETIN OF THE EXTENSION 
DIVISION, INDIANA UNIVERSITY 



Entered as second-class mail matter, October 15, 1915, at the postoffice at Bloomington, 
Indiana, under the Act of August 24, 1912. Publishedl monthly, by Indiana University, 
from the University Office, Bloomington, Indiana. 



Vol. IV 



BLOOMINGTON, IND. 



No. 6 




School and Community Service 



Experiments in Democratic Organization 



By 



Robert E. Cavanaugh, Officer in charge of the hidianapolis Ex- 
tension Center, Indiana University; Assistant Secretary of the 
Educational Section, State Council of Defense, 

and 

Walton S. Bittner, Associate Director in Charge of Public 
Welfare Service, Extension Division, Indiana University; mem- 
ber of Central Food Committee, State Council of Defense 



FEBRUARY, 1919 



Monograph 



Contents 



PAGE 

Foreword 3 

High School Councils in the Patriotic Service League — 

Program of Mobilization - 4 

Organizing the League - 6 

Committee on Program 8 

Committee on Finance 8 

Committee on Employment 9 

Citizens' Survey Committee 9 

War Service Work of High School Councils 10 

Community Councils Created by Federal Agencies — 

The Beginnings of the Community Councils .• 13 

The Plan and its Significance 14 

Proclamation of the President to the State Councils of Defense 14 

Relation op School and Community — 

Continuation of the High School Councils — - 17 

A Lesson in Self-Government 18 

The School A Community Center 18 

Appendix — 

Constitution for High School Council of Defense 20 

Regulations for High School Councils 21 

War Work of a Typical High School Council 22 

Quotations from Brief Reports from Other Schools 24 

Illustrations of Practical Shop Work 25 

References 31 



n. •t D. 

JUL 8 1919 



.(2> 



1 C-*';"* 
^^' 






Foreword 



Since the war was waged for the perpetuation of democracy, for the 
safeguarding of democratic institutions, and for the strengthening of free 
peoples, it is self-evident that the United States not only must adhere to 
democratic ideals and policies in its relations with other nations, but it 
must also progressively apply the same principles within the nation. We 
committed ourselves, by our war or peace aims, to a program of practical 
democracy at home. While the war was in progress no less than in times 
of peace, we were obligated to retain the democracy which we had so 
painfully acquired as well as to perfect and advance it farther. During 
the reconstruction period and after, we must continue and redouble our 
efforts. 

Experiments in democratic organization are being constantly made 
in this country. Two such experiments are partially described in this 
bulletin: the creation during the war of Community Councils by the 
Council of National Defense with the aid of the U.S. Bureau of Education 
and other centralized agencies; and the creation of High School Councils 
or community centers in numerous neighborhoods in school districts of 
Indiana to coordinate the activities of normal neighborhood life and of 
war service. The two experiments aimed from opposite directions to 
develop the processes of democratic organization: the one was projected 
and stimulated from the central government at Washington; the other 
was a spontaneous growth in local communities fostered by Indiana 
agencies. 

I' This bulletin attempts to show the relation between the community 
councils created and fostered by the Council of National Defense and the 
school councils organized in the Indiana High School Patriotic Service 
League.' In addition, suggestions are given for making the councils of 
the Patriotic Service League more effective agencies of practical democ- 
racy. These suggestions aim to show how the school forces may better 
serve the local communities and continue to foster state and national 
ideals. The section entitled Relation of School and Community contains 
material which should be of value to social-minded teachers and other 
leaders who need practical help in the endeavor to develop their schools 
into community centers that really work. The bulletin as a whole seeks 
to emphasize the necessity of continuing some such organization as the 
Patriotic Service League and of developing with increasing vitality the 
school and community activities which a,ppeared and prospered under 
the stimulus of war. 



(3) 



High School Councils in the Patriotic 
Service League 



Program of Mobilization. Shortly after the entrance of the United 

States into the war, the Governor of Indiana and the State Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction called a conference of school men and women 
for "the mobilization of all the educational forces of the state". As a 
result, the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense came into 
existence and immediately began working to encourage, to direct, and to 
coordinate the war service work which was already under way in the 
public schools and in the higher educational institutions. 

One of the first constructive measures undertaken by the Educational 
Section was the preparation of a program of activities for the schools of 
Indiana. This measure, as well as several others taken by the Education- 
al Section, was designed to coordinate the war service of the public 
schools, colleges, normal schools, and universities, and to render assist- 
ance to the schools in their twofold task of maintaining pre-war standards 
of education unrelaxed during the war emergency, and at the same time 
of making a generous contribution to the immediate needs of the war. 

In the early days of the European War, the disorganized labor mar- 
ket, in conjunction with the fervor of patriotism and the exigencies of 
the military situation, had caused in the warring countries a general re- 
laxation of their laboriously acquired standards of school attendance and 
child labor regulation. Schools had been taken over for military pur- 
poses; teachers had enlisted and had been replaced either by poorly 
equipped substitutes, or not at all; school funds had been reduced with 
consequent lessening of the efficiency of the schools; thousands of child- 
ren under age had been exempted from school, and other thousands had 
left school for work without formal exemption. But by the time of our 
entry into the war, France and England had taken count of the disastrous 
breakdown of child life, physical, mental, and moral; had found this 
breakdown directly traceable to relaxed standards; and had set to work 
upon a program for raising the standards of school attendance and child 
labor regulation to a level higher than that attained before the war. 
American leaders read the lesson and determined to profit by it. Presi- 
dent Wilson, in a public statement, recognized the importance of the 
schools as a great factor in helping the government to conquer. Mr. 
Baker, Secretary of War, advised that it was the duty of our high school 
boys to remain at their school work. Mr. Claxton, United States Com- 
missioner of Education, declared that "the attendance of our high schools 
should be increased and more boys and girls should be induced to remain 
until their course is completed". 

(4) 



School and Community Service 5 

Indiana educators recognized that in order to justify the hopes of 
those directing the destinies of the nation it was necessary to make the 
voluntary war service work of the educational forces so helpful that no 
question could be raised in regard to the necessity for conscripting stu- 
dents of the public schools to serve the government. Accordingly, the 
program of activities prepared by the Educational Section outlined the 
activities which should be undertaken by the schools in the war emerg- 
ency; tho necessarily brief and meager in detail, it was nevertheless 
fairly unified and comprehensive. It gave specific recommendations as 
to the nature of the work to be undertaken in relation to the whole 
problem of adapting the schools to the task of mobilization and it set 
definite limits to the changes that might be introduced into school pro- 
grams. It recognized that with the opening of the schools in the fall of 
1917 would come innumerable proposals from every source, from ir- 
responsible, volunteer, patriotic bodies on the one hand, and from the 
federal government on the other, calling on the teachers, the students, 
and the educational authorities to attempt various projects devised to 
help win the war — many of the calls unconsidered, haphazard, unrelated, 
and iTseless, the profitable proposals blocked by the unprofitable. Definite 
guidance would be required by the schools. The program was designed 
to offer a small measure of guidance, and it did serve the school officials 
in that they were able to use the suggested list of activities as a check 
on unwise demands in their communities. 

The following are the main headings of the list of war-time activities 
suggested in the program:'^ (a) production and conservation of food and 
clothing; (6) expansion of vocational training; (c) teaching of thrift; 
(d) school extension into the community; (e) intensification of physical 
training; (/) conservation of health; (g) teaching of constructive pa- 
triotism; (h) introduction of courses on war service; (i) assistance to 
Red Cross. 

In order to help local school authorities to put into effect the activities 
suggested in the program of mobilization, the Educational Section of the 
State Council of Defense pi'oceeded to organize county educational com- 
mittees. With the aid of these local committees general patriotic speak- 
ing campaigns were undertaken and special arrangements were made to 
assist the various war-time speakers' bureaus; the movement for com- 
munity singing was given impetus thru teachers' institutes and by the 
efforts of community singing leaders sent out by Indiana University and 
the Educational Section of the State Council. A plan was devised to 
integrate the war activities of Indiana schools, particularly the high 
schools. 

The plan involved the creation in each high school of a High School 
Council of Defense, whose purpose it should be to "utilize effectively the 
labor power of high school students in the school district without disrupt- 
ing the curriculum and infringing on the rights and duties of the stu- 
dents". Each such council was to become automatically a member of a 
state organization, namely, the Indiana High School Patriotic Service 

'The program was prepared and distributed in the spring of 1917, too early to include 
definite suggestions with reference to war savings, the U.S. Boys' Working Reserve, the 
Red Triangle, etc. 



6 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

League. The scheme of organization was worked out by representative 
school men, including officials of the State Department of Public In- 
struction, university and college professors, city and county superintend- 
ents of schools, and public school teachers, who met frequently in com- 
mittees, conferences, and general assembly. The plan was adopted by 
the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense. 

The League was designed not only as a device for facilitating special 
lines of war service in the schools but also as the vehicle thru which 
general policies might be expressed. Some of the policies thus crystal- 
lized are apparent in a series of resolutions presented by the Educational 
Section to the State Teachers' Association. Some of these resolutions 
follow : 

"We commend the modified plans of the United States Boys' Working 
Reserve whereby school authorities shall be made local directors, and we 
pledge the hearty cooperation of the schools in the work. [The modifica- 
tions included those listed in the Regulations issued to principals and 
High School Councils of Defense. ]" 

"We recommend a Committee on Approval, representing all the school 
interests in the state, to which shall be submitted for approval all mat- 
ters concerning war work that may involve school activities before schools 
shall be called upon to put such plans into execution. 

"It is the sense of the Educational Section of the State Council of 
Defense that work in the shops and on the farm by students in public 
schools, normal schools, colleges, and universities be considered as ad- 
ditional work — not substitute work for the regular program. It is not 
advisable to grant academic credit for industrial and farm work. Credit 
for such work may be given in industrial and agricultural subjects pro- 
vided the work is done under the supervision of the proper school author- 
ities. 

"We recommend that the regular school term be maintained, and 
that the child labor laws and compulsory education laws be held inviolate." 

The State Teachers' Association adopted the following resolution as 
well as others more particularly directing the introduction of specific war 
service into the schools: 

"We endorse the excellent work and program of the Educational Sec- 
tion of the State Council of Defense and we recognize the Educational 
Section as the official committee for our guidance and advice on all war 
service work required of the schools of Indiana." 

Organizing the League. Before steps were taken to organize the 
High School Councils as members of the Indiana Patriotic Service 
League, efforts were made to enlist the understanding and interest of 
school officials and teachers. The following is part of one statement 
that was put into the hands of the teachers: 

"Briefly the plans and purposes of the League are: 

"1. Direction of all war service of pupils thru the officers of a High 
School Council of Defense with committees on program, employment, and 
finance. 

"2. Coordination of all war service activities in the schools so that 
conflicting demands on the time and energies of the children may be 
avoided. 

"3. Adjustment of curricula, school terms, and vacations, so that the 
maximum of industrial work may be done with a minimum of interference 
in the essentials of that education which safeguards the future of the 
nation. 

=See Appendix, Regulations for High School Councils. 



School and Community Service 7 

"4. Inculcation of patriotism, thru constructive service and thru sys- 
tematic study of patriotic literature. 

"The League is an attempt to give direction and effectiveness to 
present and future school acti\ities in war time. 

"The League plans give a prominent place to the Junior Red Cross 
service, they provide for cooperation with the U.S. Boys' Working Re- 
serve, with the U.S. Treasury organization for the sale of Thrift Stamps, 
and with other organizations which ask of the children contributions and 
ser\'ice. 

"The League serves as a medium thru which the Educational Section 
of the State Council of Defense can promptly advise teachers and school 
officials and enable them to give the children under their charge the 
greatest opportunities for efficient patriotic service." 

The first direct approach to school officials to enlist their participa- 
tion in the work of organizing the League took the form of letters which 
explained the purposes of the League and suggested a form of organiza- 
tion. A constitution and by-laws" was submitted as a guide. Portions of 
the letters follow: 

"To School Superintendents and Principals: 

"It is important to make clear that the machinery of the League pro- 
posed for the high schools of the state is not an additional organization 
imposed from without; but a device for coordinating the war service al- 
ready in existence, for regulating the demands on school children, and 
for protecting the schools against direct and indirect inroads on standards 
of school attendance and school curricula. 

"The plan as proposed is broad and elastic in order to allow all the 
necessary modifications for local situations without eliminating the one 
important idea of emphasizing the teaching of constructive patriotism^ as 
unselfish action and devoted service in behalf of the nation and our Allies. 

"The League shall consist of all the high schools of the state which 
shall form local High School Councils of Defense in general conformity 
with the provisions of the constitution adopted by the Educational Section 
of the State Council of Defense. Neither dues nor pledges of any kind 
are required for membership. The only obligation is a willingness to 
organize for effectively supporting definite war service work as suggest- 
ed in the constitution and by-laws. The plans and organization of the 
Council of Defense are subject to modification by each school which joins 
the League. 

"The Educational Section of the State Council of Defense, thru its 
Committee on Approval, is prepared to make recommendations to the 
school authorities as to the wisdom of permitting organizations to enter 
the schools for making campaigns either for money or for service. 

"The organization of a High School Council to carry out the prograni 
for definite service should result in rendering active aid to our cause 
in the war. In addition it should be a means of educating our high school 
students in cooperative social service. Provision should be made for at 
least three committees within the council: namely. Program, Finance, 
and Employment Committees, and for a Citizens' Survey Committee with 
a personnel drafted from among the representative citizens of the com- 
munity. The Employment Committee, within the school, and the Cit- 
izens' Committee, outside of the school organization, should be com- 
plementary to each other, the one surveying the labor supply, the other 
surveying the labor demand, the two cooperating to meet the labor de- 
mand in the community -wath the labor supply in the school, without en- 
croaching upon school demands on the one hand, or impeding the essential 
industries on the other. Much of the success of the council will depend 
upon the work of the three committees on Program, Finance, and Em- 
ployment, and especially on their cooperation with the Citizens' Survey 
Committee. 

^See Appendix, Constitution for High School Council of Defense. 



8 Bulletin of the Extension Division . 

"Objects and Methods of the Program Committee 

"The Council should, as suggested in the Constitution, arrange regular 
meetings of the members, or at least of the officers and committee mem- 
bers, for the special purpose of deciding policies and plans. In addition, 
the regular meetings should provide for the study of patriotism," for the 
discussion of actual methods of patriotic service, and, best of all, for 
actual participation of the boys and girls in unselfish action both in- 
dividually and collectively. 

"A meeting of the Council might be devoted to songs, readings, and 
addresses of a patriotic nature; another might deal with the problem of 
food production as related to the local situation; or another might ef- 
fectively educate the school in the importance of fuel conservation or 
food conservation. These subjects are merely suggestive of the many 
that might profitably serve as topics for discussion by the students. 

"The selection of the subject War Finance for study and debate by 
the High School Discussion League" this year indicates an interesting 
line of cooperative effort for the students of the high schools included 
in the Patriotic Service League. The abundance of instructive war litera- 
ture designed to educate the people will make it possible to have excellent 
programs devoted to topics of interest to all. 

"The Program Committee's chief difficulty will be to make the meet- 
ings of the council something more than a series of lectures, recitations, 
and entertainments. This difficulty can be met by providing for dis- 
cussion by the students of specific questions and proposals, e.g. 'How 
can the school assist in seed corn selection?' 'How can we help this week 
in planting the corn on the nearby farms?' Students may report on work 
done. Some meetings could be given up to the business of the three 
committees. 

"The Program Committee may direct students to assist in making 
arrangements for community meetings addressed by speakers sent by 
the Speakers' Bureau of the State Council of Defense, or by speakers 
from the universities of the state and from national organizations. 

''Objects and Methods of the Finance or Fund' Committee'^' 

"To keep out unregulated wholesale solicitation in the schools for war 
campaigns, to act as a steering committee, to follow recommendations of 
the Approval Committee of the Educational Section of the State Council 
of Defense. 

"To encourage thrift and saving by individual students, to recommend 
savings accounts system, to recommend purchase of Thrift Stamps and 
Certificates, to cooperate with parents in inducing their children to set 
aside some money regularly for deposit in savings bank, school savings 
account, or in a school fund. 

"To devise a system of registi-ation and report of the productive work 
done by students and of their money savings, of their contributions to the 
Y.M.C.A., the Red Cross, and to other organizations; in order to have a 
detailed record of the total v/ar service of the school, this report should 
be made in cooperation with the Employment Committee. 

"To encourage contribution of part of the earnings of the boys and 
girls, and part of their spending money, to a common school fund, from 
which sums shall be voted for specific purposes, as the Red Cross, the 
French Orphans' Fund, the Liberty Loan, or for any collective purpose. 

"To supplement contributions by school earnings such as receipts from 
entertainments, contests, fairs, exhibits. 

*The work of the Program Committee in peace as well as in war is very important 
as it is the duty of such a committee to use discretion in choosing timely topics for dis- 
cussion. Local situations are important factors for consideration. See Appendix, Note 4. 

^Nearly 200 high schools took part in the discussion of War Finance in 191S. The 1919 
subject is Universal Training for Citizenship ; about 150 high schools have enrolled for 
the discussion. 

^Of course the use of a common fund by a school in peace would differ from its use 
in war but the principle would remain the same. See Appendix, War Work of a Typical 
Council. 



School and Community Service 9 

"Objects and Methods of the Employment Committee 

"To take inventory of the labor supply of the school (a) with proper 
classifications, and (6) with regular attention to the seasonal demands 
[a continuous survey]. 

"To keep a record, by a well developed card system', of the available 
labor and of the actual work done [in cooperation with the Finance Com- 
mittee]. 

"To cooperate with the Citizens' Survey Committee in determining the 
labor demand and its correlation with the supply. 

"To bring about cooperation between the school and the community 
in giving direction to the work of the students. 

"To cooperate with the U.S. Boys' Working Reserve in directing or 
supervising the placing and the work of those students over sixteen who 
enroll with the Reserve. 

"To aid teachers to solve the problem of making up school time lost 
by students. 

"Objects of the Citizens' Survey Com^mittee 

"To make a survey of the labor demands of the community. 
"To cooperate with the Employment Committee in correlating the 
labor demand with the supply. 

Since one of the purposes of the organization of the Patriotic Service 
League was to counteract some of the dangers involved in the first unre- 
strained tendencies to induct in a wholesale fashion children of school 
age into industrial or farm labor, it became necessary to help modify and 
clarify the early plans of the United States Boys' Working Reserve and, 
in addition, to emphasize the fact that there were many services which 
boys of school age could perform besides continuous manual labor at the 
expense of regular schooling. Further, it was imperative that school boys 
and girls and their parents should understand that actual labor of value 
to the community and nation in war time could be performed in the school 
plant itself; that work outside of school could under certain circumstances 
be properly done during school hours under school supervision and dis- 
cipline; and that also after school hours much more work than hitherto 
could be done either by the children independently or with the assistance 
and supervision of school officials. A governing principle of this prop- 
aganda was that the idea of the U.S. Boys' Working Reserve was a good 
one, so good that essentially it should be extended to include all school 
children as well as boys between sixteen and twenty years of age. 

In order to help overcome the misunderstandings concerning the 
numerous suggestions for utilizing the labor of boys and girls, the Ed- 
ucational Section of the State Council undertook to instruct school of- 
ficials and teachers in the rules and principles which should guide them 
in the matter. Educational leaders devoted much time to assisting in the 
extension of the U.S. Boys' Working Reserve. In order to give practical 
direction to this assistance a communication which is reproduced in the 
Appendix was sent to every high school principal in the state."" 

The work of organizing the League proceeded rapidly. Many high 
schools were, from the entrance of the United States into the war, de- 
veloping in an orderly fashion the war service of the students. Those 
schools quickly adopted the main outlines and the specific suggestions 
of the League plan. Other schools were visited by two men, one from 

"See Appendix, Note 5, for a sample employment card used in a high school. 
**See Appendix, Regulations. 



10 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

Indiana University, and one from the Indiana State Normal School, who 
were sent by the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense to 
assist in the organization of the League. At practically all war con- 
ferences (held in eighty-seven counties under the auspices of the State 
Council of Defense), the plan of the League was presented by university, 
college, and school men to both mass meetings and small groups of 
teachers and school officials. Before the close of the 1917-18 school year 
over one hundred high schools had adopted the council organization and 
many were developing the war service activities suggested by the League. 
Some of the schools succeeded in continuing their war work during the 
summer of 1918. 

War Service Work of High School Councils. Under the direction and 
guidance of the Patriotic Service League, the school councils made a 
study of the plans of the various war agencies with a view to helping 
them in the way that was most effective without seriously impairing 
regular school work. As a result, the war service work which had en- 
gaged the attention of the schools from the very beginning of the war 
expanded tremendously in an orderly and very efficient development. 

Regular programs of the councils were devoted to a discussion of 
patriotism and of types of actual service which students might render in 
their own communities." These programs emphasized the fact that pa- 
triotism is less a sentiment than it is unselfish sacrifice and devoted ser- 
vice. They focussed attention on the need for developing and fostering 
a strong and sane patriotism to counteract the extreme trend toward in- 
dividualism thruout the nation that had resulted from the keen pre-war 
competition for commercial success; and to combat a well-meaning but 
mistaken pacifist propaganda that had its roots in the same desire for 
personal success, and had resulted in the failure on the part of many 
people to realize the seriousness of the great international crisis. The 
schools proved themselves powerful instruments for overcoming the 
spiritual unpreparedness of the nation which, almost on the eve of war, 
had been at least commensurate with our material unpreparedness. The 
supreme need of subordinating the individual desire to the good of the 
nation was emphasized thru song and story, thru courses in history 
and civics. Programs of patriotic exercises were at once instituted'" and 
became a part of the regular work of the schools. School service flags 
were dedicated to the boys who had already gone into the service, and 
special exercises in their honor were held for those who had gone and 
for those about to go. 

Attention was directed also to the necessity for maintaining the health 
and vigor of the young people of the nation at the highest possible level. 
The rejection, because of physical disabilities, of such a large percentage 
of the young men who were called to the colors disclosed the fact that 
the American nation had neglected the physical education of its youth. 

'•'See Appendix, Illustrations of Practical Shop Work. 

I'JLiberty choruses and community singing, fostered by the Council of National De- 
fense, received an impetus all over the United States. Plans for their organization were 
carefully worked out and widely distributed by the different war agencies. (See Appendix, 
Note 4, for a typical program.) Recognizing that these are unsurpassed methods for 
advancing the cause of community democracy, the Child Welfare Committee of the State 
Council^ of Defense in cooperation with the E.xtension Division of Indiana University is 
continuing this work where it Was dropped by the war agencies at the i-eturn of peace. 



School and Community Service 11 

The schools undertook not only to remedy this neglect but also to meet 
the dangers due to the strain incident to the war; the study of physiology 
was continued and the principles of hygiene and of sane living were put 
into practice. Public recreation, as an important phase of physical ed- 
ucation, received an impetus. Play, games, contests, and community sing- 
ing were promoted by the schools.'' 

Here then were two important phases of the work of the High School 
Councils, namely, the development of a spirit of patri-otism and self- 
denying service, and the raising of standards of physical development. 
There remained a third tremendously important phase, namely, the ren- 
dering of material service to aid in the winning of the war. Such service 
was of diverse kinds and involved both study and practice. Much valuable 
work in food conservation and in increasing food production was done by 
the schools working in cooperation with the United States Food Adminis- 
tration. The school councils undertook to learn the plans and purposes of 
the Food Administration and to make the Food Administration's plans ef- 
fective in their communities. Students, under the direction of the coun- 
cils, engaged in gardening, canning, seed corn testing, and club work of 
various kinds related to bigger and better food production. They practiced 
thrift, and carried over into other lines of work the lessons on thrift of 
the Food Administration. 

For example, the boys and girls of Indiana furnished noteworthy in- 
stances of economy by eliminating unnecessary expenses due to graduat- 
ing exercises, class pins, and receptions." Less spectacular perhaps was 
the systematic campaign in the schools for the salvage of old rags, scrap 
paper, nut hulls, peach pits, and other articles that had been wastefully 
destroyed. 

A large part of the savings realized from these adventures in thrift 
was contributed to the Red Cross, the Soldiers' Library Fund, the 
Y.M.C.A., and other philanthropic organizations, or w^s used for the 
purchase of War Savings stamps and Liberty bonds. In several schools 
Liberty bonds were purchased thru small individual contributions and 
became the property of the schools. 

Under the pressure of the war necessity, manual training and domes- 
tic science in the schools underwent a radical change. The practice of 
spending time doing routine work that achieved no material result was 
discontinued, and without sacrificing any of the essentials of education, 
a great amount of productive work was accomplished. Instruction in 
farm mechanics and home economics served as a guide to the schools in 
making their work strictly practical from the standpoint of industrial 
production and conservation.'" 

The High School Councils not only utilized the school time regularly 
devotsd to the industrial arts for the production of articles of utility for 
the home and farm and for the Red Cross, but discovered and developed 

^^The Indiana State Board of Educatior has recently published an excellent bulletin, 
outlining courses in play and recreation, with adequate attention to disease prevention 
and health. See Bulletin No. 36, 1918, by Dr. Ocker, Mr. Schlafer, et al. 

'-Many Indiana high schools, by vote of the senior class, decided to limit the cost of all 
their graduating functions to a very nominal figure. This is not only economy, but also 
democracy befitting the democratic educational system of the state. 

'"For a detailed account of the work done by a typical school organized as a High 
School Council, see Appendix. See Appendix, Illustrations of Practical Shop Work, for 
two simple projects that will appeal to students in shop work. 



12 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

a great latent power of service by promoting a campaign for the profit- 
able use of odd hours. The operation of the draft left many gaps in the 
ranks of the adult workers which had to be filled to a large extent by 
boys and girls, lest the essential industries suffer. So great was the im- 
portance of maintaining farming, and of assisting farmers to increased 
production in the face of a labor shortage, that the U.S. Boys' Working 
Reserve had been called into being by the National Council of Defense in 
order to provide an adequate and mobile labor supply recruited from the 
ranks of the young men of the nation below the draft age. The Employ- 
ment Committee of the High School Council, in cooperation with the 
Survey Committee (composed of representative citizens of the com- 
munity) surveyed the labor situation in the community, and on a large 
scale utilized the spare time of students out of school hours to meet the 
labor needs, or made plans to adjust the school program to the labor 
needs in such a way that school work did not deteriorate. This work of 
the High School Councils was tremendously important. It met the crucial 
need for labor in an efficient and orderly manner; it checked the tendency 
to induct young people into industry in wholesale fashion; it jealously 
guarded educational standards; and it established a vital cooperation be- 
tween school and community. 



Community Councils Created by 
Federal Agencies 



Indiana had, during the war, many community councils as well as 
high school councils, and both methods of organization should be studied 
and thoioly understood by educators and community leaders, so that the 
valuable contributions of the council idea may be utilized in peace-time 
"community center development. Both these war work devices, the high 
school council and the community council, were experiments in democrat- 
ic organization, both sought to use the schoolhouse as a coordinating 
center for community or neighborhood activities, and both required the 
cooperation of the school authorities as well as of parents and children 
in the school district. 

The Beginnings of the Community Councils. The community center or 
"social center" as it was formerly called is not new in Indiana, but the 
war has given it a new meaning and strength as well as opportunity for 
innumerable activities and wide influence. That the federal government 
should be partially responsible for stimulating the community center idea 
is not so unexpected when it is remembered that President Wilson be- 
came interested in the social center several years ago. In an address at 
the National Conference of Civic and Social Centers in 1911 he pointed 
out clearly that the movement was fundamentally American;'* according- 
ly it is logical that he should have recognized the community center as 
an excellent device for patriotic war service. He undoubtedly had this 
in mind when he created the Committee on Public Information, for one of 
the first things the Committee's Department of Distribution did was to 
carry out the scheme of placing in the hands of the teachers of practically 
every school in the United States copies of the informational publications 
of the Committee for distribution to the people of the school centers. 

The Committee issued a significant statement explaining the plan of 
distributing pamphlets. Part of the statement to teachers is as follows: 

"From the pupils to the parents in the home is a step you have often 
taken in connection with other work. It is now a direct national service 
in connection with the use of these pamphlets to carry their message from 
the government to every citizen. Through your energy and devotion 
you can become in this field the most effective force influencing the pub- 
lic opinion of your community. Such enlightenment is fundamental to 
every measure taken to win the war, whether it be food conservation, 
bond buying, tax paying, supporting education, enlisting, or any other 
form of service and sacrifice for the great work in which each individual 
must do his part." 

i*"It seems to me that the schoolhouses dotted, here, there and everywhere, oyer the 
great expanse of this nation, will some day prove to be the roots of that great tree of 
liberty which shall spread for the sustenance and protection of all mankind." 

"So what I see in this movement is a recovery of the constructive and creative genius 
of the American People." Quoted from President Wilson's address at Madison, Wis., 
1911 ; in The Community Center, December, 1917, Vol. 1, No. 11. 

(13) 



14 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

Another federal agency besides the Committee on Public Information 
gave impetus to community center development during the war. The 
Council of National Defense suggested to the states that councils should 
be organized ip county and other local units and particularly urged that 
every school district be organized for as much coordinated war service as 
possible in all the communities of each state. The idea was worked out 
with the aid of the Bureau of Education at Washington which supplied 
the details of tTie scheme. The Woman's Committee of the Council of 
National Defense first presented the scheme for adoption after the out- 
lines had been received from the National Community Center Association. 

The Plan and its Significance. It is not the purpose of this bulletin 
on School and Community Service to describe in detail the Community 
Council Plan of National Organization as promulgated by the Council of 
National Defense; but instead to call attention to it as a national en- 
dorsement of the movement as it developed in Indiana cities and neighbor- 
hoods, an indorsement of the community centers which have been taking 
root in the state during the last six years. Before a formal statement 
was issued from Washington, many communities in Indiana recognized 
that the school district was an excellent unit for war service work and 
that the school forces were powerful agencies for mobilizing opinion and 
community energy. The people of many communities went naturally to 
their schoolhouses for instruction and for participation in war work im- 
mediately after the declaration of war. It is a striking fact that the 
people in groups here and there should adopt a method and expand it in 
time of war at the same time that their government saw its possibilities 
and sought to extend it as a potent war-time institution thruout the whole 
country. 

President Wilson's proclamation to the State Councils of Defense 
commending the idea of Community Councils contains a clear statement 
of their significance. 

Proclamation of the President to the State Councils of Defense 

"Your State, in extending its National Defense organization, by the 
creation of Community Councils, is, in my opinion, making an advance 
of vital significance. It will, I believe, result, when thoroughly carried 
out, in welding the Nation together as no nation of great size has ever 
been welded before. It will build up from the bottom an understanding 
and sympathy and unity of purpose and effort which will, no doubt, have 
an inimediate and decisive effect upon our great undertaking. You will 
find it, I think, not so much a new task as a unification of existing ef- 
forts, a fusion of energies now too much scattered, and at times some- 
what confused, into one harmonious and effective power. 

"It is only by extending your organization to small communities that 
every citizen of the state can be reached and touched with the inspiration 
of the common cause. The schoolhouse has been suggested as the apt, 
though not essential, center for your local Council. It symbolizes one 
of the first fruits of such an organization, namely, the spreading of the 
realization of the great truth that it is each one of us as an individual 
citizen upon whom rests the ultimate responsibility. Through this great 
new organization we will express with added emphasis our vdll to win and 
our confidence in the utter righteousness of our purpose. 

Sincerely yours, 

WOODROW WILSON." 



School and Community Service 15 

In developing the plan for Community Councils a program of coopera- 
tion was suggested consisting of the following general heads: (a) com- 
munity meetings and rallies; (&) patriotic education; (c) reports; (d) 
food; (e) Americanization; (/) protection; (g) labor and industry; (h) 
community thrift; (i) county subscriptions; (j) soldiers' aid work; (k) 
coordination; (I) execution of requests from headquarters. 

Numerous detailed suggestions were made by the State Council's Sec- 
tion in charge of Community Organization and of Development of the 
Community Council Plan, emphasizing thruout the primary idea or prin- 
ciple that the Community Council should be a coordinating device or clear- 
ing-hous3 to make more effective the work of existing organizations and 
to make possible additional independent action by the whole community. 
This idea of coordination combined with the possibility of releasing com- 
munity energies was also the central idea of the Patriotic Service League 
in Indiana, worked out more particularly from the point of view of the 
teachers and children of the schools. 

The significance of the community center movement as it began be- 
fore the war developed spontaneously and under the stimulus from Wash- 
ington during the war, and as it may continue to develop, is well summed 
up by William Leavitt Stoddard in an article in the Independent'" de- 
scribing the initiation of the Community Councils plan. 

"For more than a year the slow processes of democratic organization 
of a people numbering a hundred million have been developing. . . . 

"The need for the performance of this task is immediate and in ab- 
solute harmony with the issues for which we are fighting. ... It is 
fitting, proper, and expedient that even in the midst of war we take 
steps to make ourselves more democratic. We accepted the gage because 
we believe that democracy is the best form of government, and that it 
can be made the most powerful and efficient." 

Dr. Henry Jackson, specialist of the Bureau of Education, pointed 
out that 

"It would be nothing short of a public benefaction if some device could 
be found to decrease the present number of organizations and prevent the 
inexcusable economic waste due to the duplication of activities. It is 
because we have so many organizations that we need more organization 
as a cure for this needless waste. 

"The community center is such a device. It can perform the function 
because it is a comprehensive organization. The center of any American 
community is the free public school, the only center it has. The coni- 
munity center is not a rival, but an ally, of other organizations. It is 
more; it is their foster mother; it is the matrix which gives them their 
setting. It embraces them as departmental activities. It is a coordinat- 
ing instrument." 

We have in Indiana, then, two phases of the community center move- 
ment; the early development, which was a loose application of the idea 
that the schoolhouse should be more widely used, that it should serve the 
adult community as well as the children; and the recent development 
under the stimulus of the war, an application in varied forms of the idea 
that the school should be the coordinating center for war service and for 
community service in time of peace. 

^""Democratising our Democracy", by Wm. Leavitt Stoddard in Independent May 18, 
1918. Vol. 94, p. 279. 



16 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

Too much emphasis cannot be given to the necessity of continuing this 
community center development. We must have more real democracy at 
home; the best way to inculcate democratic patriotism is to enlist the 
children and adults in community and national service; the only institu- 
tion which now provides universal opportunity for patriotic service is the 
communty center in the public schools of the nation. 



Relation of School and Community 



Continuation of the High School Councils. It is the purpose of this 
section to call attention to the forms of school and community war ser- 
vice that may profitably be adapted to peace times as permanent ad- 
vances in democratic organization. 

During the war democracy received an impetus, not only in Europe 
where czars, kaisers, and the aristocracy have been rudely tumbled, but 
also in the United States where we have seen the earnest cooperation of 
both organizations and peoples who have long been unfriendly and hostile. 
The prejudice of race, sect, and party were cast aside for the common 
good. The sons of the rich and the poor went to the battle-line side by 
side. Liberty bonds were purchased by practically all adult citizens. 
Red Cross membership has become almost universal. The war was in- 
deed a great leveler. 

With the coming of peace and its attendant problems of readjustment 
it is probable that competition will be increased in business, in the pro- 
fessions, and in industry. The idealism of the war period will be re- 
placed by the state of mind existent before the war. Reaction may follow 
the strain of sacrifice and self-denial and the country will be in great 
danger of a return to extreme individualism and selfishness in the rush 
for the success which is measured largely by financial progress. 

It has been the common belief that the function of an educational sys- 
tem is to pi-epare citizens for these various phases of competition. This 
is, perhaps, half the truth. That "it is a condition and not a theory that 
confronts us" m-ust be admitted. Necessarily the schools, therefore, must 
furnish preparation for this competition. No school may hope for public 
support if it does not aid in equipping its students for practical life. The 
state has no envied place for the citizen who cannot earn a living. 

Nevertheless, there has been too much emphasis in education on suc- 
cess without an adequate understanding that success has both an in- 
dividual and social significance and that the social is the more important. 
Training for useful citizenship is a common phrase, but actual training is 
not commonly given the attention it deserves. In the struggle for suc- 
cess, as the world of business defines it, the very rudiments of a training 
for vocational needs have been neglected. Out of this has come the de- 
mand for vocational education which is clearly a step in the right direction 
for several reasons, but especially because it benefits more people and is 
therefore more democratic. It must not be overlooked, however, that 
vocational education unless broadly interpreted may be only a demand 
for a wider, not a broader, application of the usual meaning of the term 
"success", for even now, as advocated by many, it is after all a revolt 
against the failure of education to produce more utilitarian results. 

(17) 



18 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

There is another count against the public school system. The schools 
have become more mechanical than they should be in a self-governing 
country. The best of them have been examples more or less of benevolent 
despotisms where the teachers have served as retainers or vassals drilling- 
pupils for the armies of competition. In order that this competition may 
not wipe out every social advance gained from the war it is just as 
necessary that an educational system should foster the spirit of democ- 
racy which constitutes the very soul of the nation. 

When High School Councils of Defense were organized thruout In- 
diana during the war, they were created for the specific purpose of help- 
mg to win the war. They served this purpose well, but they also did other 
things of value. They were fine examples of practical local school democ- 
racies, they provided for a safe but sane measure of student government,, 
they furnished the nucleus for organizing community forums which con- 
nected the student body with the citizens, and they gave examples of 
helpful material service which high schools should render in peace as 
well as in war. 

A Lesson in Self Government. The work of these councils should by 
all means be continued. Their organization and management furnish a 
training that makes for citizenship. Under the tactful guidance of the 
high school teaching corps, the boys and girls should learn useful lessons 
involving initiative in action and also responsibility for its result. Every 
prudent advance in increasing the participation of students in school ac- 
tivities marks real progress. On the other hand, nothing is more deaden- 
ing than to impose on live boys and girls a program of cut and dried 
routine. Teachers who do any thinking for themselves resent such a 
program when imposed by a school board or a superintendent. It is man- 
ifestly illogical to deny the right of young people to enter into discussion 
and to make their own mistakes in some of their school activities in a 
country where we pride ourselves on the right of self-determination. 

Perhaps the most liberal school administrator will oppose the institu- 
tion of student government in our public schools when it has not yet been, 
successfully introduced into our colleges and universities. However, it 
is by no means impossible to make some progress in the elementary les- 
sons in self-government thru frank discussions of aims and purposes of 
rules of discipline and also of programs involving the relation of the 
school to the nation, state, and community, in matters of service. We 
have observed the prompt voluntary response of students to all the calls 
for war service for which they saw the need. For this work the students- 
themselves aided in formulating and executing plans. Their initiative 
and energy have been worthy of emulation by more mature people.'" Can- 
not this initiative and energy be /Utilized by guiding instead of coercing^ 
the boys and girls as they develop into men and women who are to ex- 
ercise the rights and duties of citizenship? 

The School a Community Center. In many communities in Indiana 
the leadership of the high schools in various phases of war work has been 
pretty well established. The schools were often selected for patriotic 
meetings and they were universally used for the distribution of patriotic 

ii^See Appendix, War Work of a Typical Council, for a superintendent's letter re- 
ferring to the work of students in his school. 



School and Community Service 19 

propaganda, both by the government and by the various approved war 
agencies. 

This use of the schools served to bring the people of the community 
into closer touch with the teachers and students. It also brought them to 
the schoolhouses in ever-increasing numbers. That the school should be 
made the real community center has thus been partially realized. It is 
the business of the educational leaders to see that this advantage, gained 
in war time, is not lost in time of peace. 

In order to secure recognition as the community center the school 
must continue to merit this recognition, and the only way it can do so is 
by service. As an agency recognizing no distinctions of party, race, or 
sect, it should be the institution to which all the people go for informa- 
tion, discussion, and entertainment.'' 

Dr. Henry E. Jackson, of the United States Bureau of Education, in 
his bulletin "A Community Center" has given some excellent plans for 
organizing and conducting centers and forums in a successful measure. 
The possibilities of such centers as determining factors in a community's 
progress have been but little realized and still less utilized. As this 
bulletin indicates, it may be the people's university, the community forum, 
the neighborhood club, the home and school league, the community bank, 
and the cooperative exchange.'^ In the organization of a community cen- 
ter the school superintendent or principal is the logical leader if it is 
possible for him to be released from his other duties to undertake such 
important work. To make the community center a success demands an 
energetic, capable man who has the confidence of the public. Without 
excellent leadership it is useless to expect success.'" 

It is not the purpose of this publication to attempt to give a concrete 
program of educational work that will result in school leadership. The 
alert school administrator has at hand a wealth of current publications,, 
some professional and some popular, that are full of suggestions. It i& 
his business to select and eliminate according to local needs. New pro- 
jects that have social value are being offered in the social sciences, the 
practical arts'" courses, and also in English and foreign language work. 
Community discussions of civic and industrial questions as well as politi- 
cal and social problems — subjects usually avoided in public schools — 
must be considered the business of public education if the school is to 
serve its full purpose in community betterment. 

^'Many memorial halls will soon be built by communities to commemorate the deeds 
of their heroes who have fallen in the late war. As every high school has its service 
flag, why should not these halls be a part of the educational plants ? They would be more 
universally used and would, therefore, justify the expenditure. If the school is to her 
the community center it must provide a suitable place for the people of the community- 
to meet. 

•^The various government bureaus, Indiana University, Purdue University, other educa- 
tional institutions, and many private agencies have departments devoted to public welfare 
work. This service is of various kinds such as lantern slides, educational films, publica- 
tions of practical value, lectures, package libraries, and community institutes. 

i^See Appendix, References, for simple and practical suggestions for successfully or- 
ganizing and conducting a community center. 

^^See Appendix, Illustrations of Practical Shop Work. 



Appendix 



CONSTITUTION FOR HIGH SCHOOL 
COUNCIL OF DEFENSE^ 

Constitution 

We, the teachers and pupils of High School in order 

to g-ive loyal and efficient support to our country in the present crisis do 
hereby pledge ourselves to cooperate with the Educational Section of 
the County and State Councils of Defense thru a High School Patriotic 
Service League in the effort to utilize our schools in helping to win the 
war. 

Article I. The name of this organization shall be ,. 

High School Council of Defense. The Council shall be a member of the 
Indiana High School Patriotic Service League. 

Art. IL The object of the organization shall be to cooperate with 
the Educational Sections of the County and State Councils of Defense in 
carrying out a school program for definite, active, and patriotic voluntary 
service. 

Art. III. All the teachers and students of any high school may become 
members of the Council and the League by a majority vote of the school. 
Membership does not involve any form of compulsory service by the 
school or its students. 

Art. IV. The officers of the Council shall be a President, Vice-Pres- 
ident, Secretary, and Treasurer who shall perform the usual duties at- 
tached to those offices. 

Art. V. The regular meetings of the Council shall be held on the 
of each month, or as the Council shall decide. 

Art. VI. The officers of the Council and the Chairman of the three 
committees named in the By-Laws shall constitute an executive com- 
mittee for planning and executing special war service work as instructed 
by the general body of students at any meetiag or in accordance with its 
By-Laws. A quorum shall consist of members of this committee. 

Art. VII. This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of 
the students and teachers at any regular meeting. 

By-Laws 

Section I. The motto of the Council shall be: Help our country NOW 
(or any other motto as the students may decide). 

Sec. II. All officers with the exception of the President shall be elect- 
ed by ballot. The President shall be the principal of the high school, or 
teacher or school official appointed by him. 

Sec. III. The following committees shall be appointed by the Pres- 
ident: (1) Committee on Program; (2) Committee on Employment; 
(3) Committee on Finance. 

The Committee on Program shall arrange for regular and special 
meetings for the study and discussion of lessons on constructive patriot- 
ism, emphasized as unselfish action and devoted service. 

The Committee on Employment shall make a survey of the school's 
labor supply and cooperate with a Citizens' Committee in making a sur- 
vey of the community's labor need in order to bring about helpful co- 

'Suggested by the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense for adoption by 
members of the Patriotic Service League. 

(20) 



School and Community Service 21 

operation. This committee shall include in its membership representative 
citizens such as the county superintendent, the county agent, the voca- 
tional director, farmers, merchants, and others who may be able to make 
its work more effective. It is essential that the chief work of discover- 
ing the labor demand be done by citizens outside of the school organiza- 
tion. 

The Committee on Finsince shall investigate and propose a system of. 
earning and saving by the students individually and by the school col- 
lectively. It shall make recommendations as to methods of raising money 
and expending it wisely from the standpoint of national service. It shall 
have general oversight of whatever funds the Council may create and 
shall provide for auditing the books of the Treasurer. 

Signature of Officers Date 

and committee chairmen Adopted by High School 

REGULATIONS^ 

For guidance of high school principals with reference to the U.S. Boys 
Working Reserve and the Junior Red Cross. 

I. The school officials shall have initial and final authority in any war 
service work which proposes to utilize the time and energy of the stu- 
dents. 

II. Shortening school terms, the giving of credit for nonacademic 
work, the release of students from school attendance should not be under- 
taken without the sanction of the Approval Committee of the Educational 
Section of the State Council of Defense. 

This committee has suggested the advisability of providing for part- 
time employment of students, whereby they may be released from school 
during good weather for assisting farmers, or others, at a time of need. 
Shorter holiday periods are also recommended. An important thing to 
remember is that when a student is not in school his time should be 
utilized in a valuable manner. 

III. The principal of the high school as local representative of the 
U.S. Eoys' Working Reserve should be the guiding authority in the work 
of the Employment Committee of the High School Council of Defense 
and should be an active member of any citizens' committee which under- 
takes to survey the demand for labor in the community, in order: (1) 
to direct the call for student help on farm, in store, or in factory; (2) to 
decide what boys and girls may profitably undertake outside work; (3) 
to decide when, where, and how long students may work during the school 
day; (4) to provide for reports on work done, to keep records of job, 
pay, and conditions of work whenever possible; (5) to balance work, 
study, and recreation. 

IV. The school officials shall request that calls upon students shall 
be made through the principal and his assistants, including the Com- 
mittee on Employment of the High School Council of Defense. Calls 
coming from outside organizations directly to the students tend to lowei' 
school discipline and student morale. 

If students sign the pledge of the U.S. Boys' Working Reserve or 
other similar pledges the students and parents should be made to under- 
stand that any assignment of work that may be made will be voluntary on 
the part of the student and that such assignment will be made and con- 
trolled by the principal and his committee and that no organization out- 
side the school may arbitrarily set aside school regulations. 

V. The principal and the employment committee and the whole High 
School Council of Defense should endeavor to fill the quota of enrollments 
in the Reserve and the Red Cross as a positive patriotic service, vnth the 
understanding that students so enrolled are not thereby released from 
control of the school or excused from school work except as provided by 
school authorities. 

-Communication from the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense to the 
high school principals of Indiana. 



22 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

VI. Especial effort should be made to enroll boys not in school and to 
assist the Reserve in placing them in productive employment. 

Signed by the Secretary, Educational Section, 

State Cotmcil of Defense. 

WAR WORK OF A TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL COUNCIL 

In the spring of 1917, when war with Germany was declared, many 
high fichnols took the initiative in patriotic work. In some of them action 
was taken even before the war declaration was passed by Congress. In 
Salem the closing number of the year's lyceum course on the evening of 
April 3 was turned into a patriotic rally at which citizen committees 
were appointed and resolutions pledging loyalty in the impending crisis 
were adopted and forwarded to Washington. 

This "first step" was followed immediately by an intensive campaign 
in behalf of the Red Cross, increased food production, and food conserva- 
tion. The high school offered to test for the farmers of that county all 
seed corn that might be brought to it. As a result thirty-six farmers 
brought in a total of one hundred fifty bushels, or enough to plant twelve 
hundred acres, every individual ear of which was given the germination 
test. Thru the activity of the high school teachers ten "better seed corn" 
meetings were held in various parts of the county and much interest was 
shown in all of them. 

When the Educational Section of the State Council of Defense pro- 
posed its plan for a State Patriotic Service League, Salem High School 
at once took steps to organize a High School Council. 

"A committee, composed of one teacher and eight students, was ap- 
pointed to draw up a constitution and by-laws for such a society in the 
local high school." The formulation of these basic principles that were to 
rule the organization proved the worth of the undertaking. Eight stu- 
dents did enough good work in English and civics in the constitutional 
meeting to justify the time spent. A few days after the Constitutional 
Convention, the results of the labor of this body were submitted to the 
students and faculty for ratification. In the meantime, a real live prop- 
aganda was carried on by the eight students in favor of what the League 
was going to be able to do. 

"Upon being presented, the constitution and by-laws of the Salem 

^From the report submitted by Principal C!em O. Thompson of the Salem High School. 

^PATRIOTIC DAY 

Salem High School Service League 

February 12, 1918 

PROGRAM 

Invccation. 

Star-Spatigled Banner 
Flag Salute , .^ School and Audience 



Song — America, Here's My Boy School 

Reminiscences of the Boys in Service .' Mr. Telle 

Greetings From the Faculty in Service 

Song — Keep the Home Fires Burning School 



V/hy the Boys and Girls Should Help Carrie Benham 

Song — 2'he Cross that Stands for Helping Hands School 



Our Allies Eugene Boggs 

Song — Over There School 



Address Professor F. S. Bogardus, of the Indiana State Normal School 



Gettysburg Address Zenor Taylor 



America 
Benediction. 



School and Community Service 



23 



High School Service League were unanimously adopted on January 9, 
1918." 

[Then follow the constitution and by-laws which were adapted to local 
needs from the suggested form printed in this bulletin. The constitution 
and by-laws were signed by the committee consisting of one teacher and 
two students from each of the four classes of the high school.] 

"The Program Committee set to work immediately to prepare pro- 
grams in which the students took the most active part. An exceptional 
program^ was arranged for Lincoln's birthday. This program furnished 
some good work for the high school print shop. The main feature was 
the dedicating of the high school service flag which had been made by 
the- sewing classes. Another program was arranged for Washington's 
birthday when pictures of Washington and Lincoln were placed in the 
assembly room. This meeting was entirely in the hands of the students. 

"But while the Program Committee was at work the others were also 
busy. The Committee on Relief secured funds, in connection with the 
Finance Committee, and made the high school a Junior Red Cross 
Auxiliary. Under the auspices of this organization the high school girls 
turned out 48 refugee garments, 13 pairs of wristlets, 2 knitted blankets 
containing in all 125 6" squares, 15 knitted washcloths, 2,101 bandages 
from 339 yards of gauze, canned 286 quarts of fruit, jam, and jelly; the 
boys made 31 boxes in which the canned goods were shipped to the hos- 
pital and 12 standard packing-cases for the local chapter Surgical Dress- 
ing Shop. 

"In the meantime, the Finance Committee secured donations in small 
amounts from 201 of the 260 students and faculty members and bought a 
Liberty Bond which became the property of the school. The same com- 
mittee organized a group of workers to help in the Third Liberty Loan 
campaign. Special blanks were used to distinguish the sales from the 
local Liberty Loan organization. As a resulc of the work of these stu- 
dents, 24 in number, $13,600 worth of bonds were sold to 95 different 
people, 15 different high school students purchased $750 worth, every 
teacher became a bond-holder and a member of the Salem High School 
Bond Club. The committee organized a Thrift Club which was joined by 
148 of the students and all of the teachers before the close of school. Dur- 
ing the remaining few weeks, $348.25 was invested. 

"With the coming of spring, the demand for labor on the farm was 
met by the Employment Committee. This Committee put the proposition 
up to the high school boys that help was needed on the farm and that 
those boys who wanted jobs m-ust meet certain requirements. Those who 
would make up their work willingly and without being requested to do so 
would be given the opportunity to do a patriotic act, get an education, 
and put money in their pockets all at the same time. The plan worked 
so well that 25 boys were placed for 20 different farmers for a total of 
100 days' employment before the end of school without any appreciable 
loss in school work. A record card° was kept of each boy's work, as it 
was the object of the committee to give service for the money received. 

"In the spring of 1917, 12,500 ears of seed corn were tested for 36 
farmers. In the following spring, 28,500 ears were tested for 70 different 

*See page 22 for Note 4. 

5SALEM HIGH SCHOOL SERVICE LEAGUE 

EMPLOYMENT 

NAME WHEN AVAILABLE 



1 Employer | Date | Kind of Work | Hours | Wage [ Quality of Work | 


1 


1 1 
1 1 




1 1 
1 1 































24 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

people, an increase of 100 per cent in the number served. Shop students 
made 10 single and 2 double fireless cookers. Besides the work of the 
school pupils, the teachers aided in sending out the questionnaires for 
the local conscription board, and they made cut the card index system of 
the first registration. One afternoon only of school time was given up 
to this work, and the rest was done outside of school hours. 

"The Boys' Working Reserve obtained a 100 per cent membership in 
the school and by cooperating with the Employment Committee the boys 
were able to get in time which counted towards securing the much coveted 
medal. The presentation of the first medal that came to the school was 
a feature of one program of the League. The school was represented also 
in the U.S. School Garden Army. There were 128 grade school children 
and 32 high school students doing work of this kind. Every child of the 
467 enrolled was a member of the Junior Red Cross. In the industrial 
arts work the students knitted 94 washcloths and made two dozen pairs 
of little booties out of scraps of outing flannel. Twenty-four different 
students bought $1,200 worth of Liberty Bonds and 147 children owned 
together $365 worth of Thrift Stamps. 

"Altho more 'outside' work was done than before the war, and the 
students, as well as their parents, were under a greater distracting strain, 
more real school work was done than was ever accomplished in one year 
before in the writer's connection with the school. The League seemed to 
be an ideal outlet for expression and instead of taking time from school 
work, it seemed to furnish an incentive for better and more school work." 
No finer spirit could be manifested by any student body than that shown 
by the boys and girls during last year. 

"We think so much of the possibilities of the League that it has been 
continued this year. A new committee has been added and it is working 
energetically for a lecture course. I hope and believe the same fine spirit 
of service to their returning brothers and friends, to their fellow students, 
teachers, and themselves will be revealed this year by the students to 
help overcome the difficulties of having lost seven weeks of school due 
to the epidemic." 

Quotations from Brief Reports from Other Schools 

The following are a few quotations from letters received from other 
superintendents and principals who reported on work done by students: 

"Some very good work was done by the high school" last year in the 
way of personal sacrifice service toward national war activities, for 
example: An organization of high school boys raised by subscinption 
among themselves S900 for the Y.M.C.A. fund and furnished 120 mem- 
bers of the Boys' Working Reserve, nearly all of whom carried out the 
spirit of that movement thruout the vacation. The high school girls, in 
an organization known as the Little Sisters of the Soldiers, contributed 
by personal subscription $353 to the Y.M.C.A. work. Another organiza- 
tion of girls, The Victory Club, gave personal service thruout the year in 
contributions to the Red Cross supplies. Two groups of students are 
contributing to the support of French Orphans. The work has been done 
Quietly and has been of great value to the young people in the opportunity 
it has furnished them of participating personally in activities." 

"We had the following committees in the high school organization:^ 
Junior Red Cross, Boys' Working Reserve, Girls' Working Reserve, Sur- 
gical Dressing and Red Cross Work, Thrift Stamp Campaign, Service 
Flag, Liberty Loans, Employment. 

"These committees were very active and planned ail schemes to put 
over good and strong every project. In the Junior Red Cross drive we 
had many more paid memberships than we had students. We had 1,302 

'The enrollment in this particular high school in the fall of 1917 showed a substantial 
increase over that of the previous year, altho the conditions due to the war were unfavor- 
able_ to school growth. 

'Superintendent A. H. Douglas, Logansport. 

Principal L. T. Turpin, Muncie. 



School and Community Service 25 

students and I think our membership ran close to 1,400. The Thrift 
Stamp drive was a success. The Boys' Working Reserve was our hardest 
work since so many were to work in factories rather than on the farms." 
"These High School Councils of Defense" engaged in all lines of war 
work, and wdth a zeal becoming their age and vigor. The pupils rendered 
service that no other class of people could have performed. The organ- 
ization, too, is, it seems to me, the best means for promoting patriotic 
sentiment among the young people in our high schools, and giving them 
an intelligent comprehension of the causes and magnitude of the war, 
and the results sought in the successful prosecution of the war by the 
United States. I should like to see evei-y high school in the state organize 
this year as a High School Council of Defense under the Patriotic Ser- 
vice League." 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICAL SHOP WORK 

Merely as examples of work that may be done in the ordinary manual 
training shop the two following plans for the construction of "The Fire- 
less Cooker" and "The Iceless Refrigerator" are reproduced from "Farm 
Home Conveniences", Farmers' Bulletin 927, by Madge J. Reese, Assistant 
in Home Demonstration Work, States Relations Service, United States 
Department of Agriculture. 

The Fireless Cooker 

"Fireless cookers are now being made and used in hundreds of country 
homes. What is more pleasing to the farm woman than to put her dinner 
in the fireless cooker before she drives to town to market her products, 
and upon returning find it is ready for serving ? 

"The fireless cooker offers several advantages. The first is economy 
of time, as the housekeeper may leave the food cooking without v/orrying 
about the results while she is eiigaged in other household duties or visit- 
ing her friends. 

"Some foods are improved by long cooking at relatively low tempera- 
ture. The texture and flavor of tougher cuts of meat, old, tough fowl, 
and ham are improved by slow cooking. Cereals, dried legumes, and dried 
fruits are more palatable and wholesome when cooked for a long time. 
Soups and stews are delicious when cooked in the cooker. Baking, how- 
ever, cannot be done very conveniently and satisfactorily in the ordinary 
homemade-fireless cooker. 

"In some sections of the country economy of fuel must be an important 
consideration. The food for the cooker may be started on the wood or 
coal range when the morning meal is being prepared. In warm weather 
the use of a fireless cooker and a kerosene stove means not onlj'^ economy 
of fuel, but also comfort. 

"The food to be cooked is first heated to boiling point on the stove in 
the cooking vessel and then this vessel, covered with a tight lid, is quickly 
placed in the cooker, where the cooking continues. The cooker is so con- 
structed that the heat does not escape. For long cooking it is necessary 
to place in the cooker under the cooking vessel a hot radiator. A soap- 
stone is the best radiator and can be purchased at most hardware stores 
for 50 cents. A stove lid, a brick or disk made of concrete, heated and 
placed in the cooker, may serve as the radiator. 

Directions for Making Fireless Cooker 

"A tightly built box, an old trunk, a galvanized-iron ash can, a candy 
bucket, a tin lard can, a lard tub, and a butter firkin are among the con- 
tainers that have been used successfully in the construction of fireless 
cookers. 

"The inside container or nest which holds the vessel of hot food may 
be a bucket of agate, galvanized iron, or tin. This nest must be deep 

^Superintendent T. F. Fitzgibbon, Columbus. 



26 



Bulletin of the Extension Division 



enough to hold the radiator and the vessel of food but not large enough to 
leave much space, as the air space w^ill cool the food. The inside con- 
tainer must have a tight-fitting cover, and straight sides are desirable. 

"The packing or insulation must be some material w^hich is a poor 
conductor of heat. The following materials may be used and they should 
be dry: Lint cotton, cotton-seed hulls, v^^ool, shredded newspaper, Spanish 
moss, ground cork, hay, straw, and excelsior. 

"Sheet asbestos % inch thick and heavy cardboard have proved to be 
the best lining for the outer container and the wrapping for the nest. 
Heavy wrapping paper or several sheets of newspaper may be used for 
lining the outer container, but the nest should be wrapped with asbestos 
or heavy cardboard to prevent the hot stone scorching or burning the 
packing. 

"1. It is well to have the outside container large enough to permit 4 
inches of packing below and around the sides of the nest. If a cooker is 
being made with two nests, 6 inches of packing should be allowed between 
the nests. Pack into the bottom of the lined outer container 4 inches of 
the packing. Place the nest or inside container wrapped with asbestos or 




Fig. 1. Section of Fireless Cooker 



School and Community Service 



2'7 



heavy cardboard and hold steady while the packing is put around tightly 
and firmly until it reaches the top of the nest. 

"2. Make a collar, as shown in illustration, of cardboard, sheet as- 
bestos, or wood to cover the exposed surface of the insulating material. 
This collar should fit tightly. 

"3. Make a cushion which when filled with the packing will be at least 
4 inches thick and will fill completely the space between the top of the 




Fig. 2. The Completed Fireless Cooker 



28 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

nest and the lid of the outside container. It should fit against the top 
tightly enough to cause pressure when the lid is closed. 

'■'4. The outside of the fireless cooker can be made more attractive 
by staining or painting it. The lid may be held in place by screen-door 
hooks and eyes. The cooker may be placed on casters so that it can be 
easily moved. 

"Selected recipes for preparing food to be cooked in the fireless cook- 
er may be found in Farmers' Bulletin 771, Homemade Fireless Cookers 
and Their Use. 

The Iceless Refrigerator'" 

"A very useful convenience for the farm home, where ice is not ob- 
tainable, is the iceless refrigerator. It will keep meats, fruits, and 
vegetables cool, and will extend the period for keeping milk and butter. 
It can also serve as a cooler for drinking water. In homes where large 
quantities of milk and butter are to be kept, it would be well to have one 
refrigerator for milk and butter, and another for other foods as milk and 
butter readily absorb odors from other foods. It costs very little to build 
the refrigerator and nothing to operate it. 

Construction 

"A wooden frame is made with dimensions 42 by 16 by 14 inches and 
covered with screen wire, preferably the rustless type, which costs little 
more than the ordinary kind. The door is made to fit closely and is 
mounted on brass hinges, and can be fastened with a wooden latch. The 
bottom is fitted solid, but the top should be covered with screen wire. 
Adjustable shelves can be made of solid wood or strips, or sheets of gal- 
vanized metal. Shelves made of poultry netting on light wooden frames, 
as shown in the illustration, are probably the most desirable. These 
shelves rest on side braces placed at desired intervals. A bread baking 
pan, 14 by IG inches, is placed on the top and the frame rests in a 17 by 
18 inch pan. 

"All the woodwork, the shelves, and the pans should receive two coats 
of white paint and one or two coats of white enamel. This makes a very 
attractive surface and one that can be easily kept clean. The screen 
wire also may receive the coats of enamel, which will prevent it from 
rusting. 

"A cover of canton flannel, burlap, or duck is made to fit the frame. 
Put the smooth side out if canton flannel is used. It will require about 
three yards of material. This cover is buttoned around the top of the 
frame and down the side on which the door is not hinged, using buggy 
hooks and eyes or large-headed tacks and eyelets worked in the material. 
On the front side arrange the hooks on the top of the door instead of on 
the frame and also fasten the cover down the latch side of the door, al- 
lowing a wide hem of the material to overlap the place where the door 
closes. The door can then be opened without unbuttoning the cover. The 
bottom of the cover should extend down into the lower pan. Four double 
strips, which taper to 8 or 10 inches in width, are sewed to the upper 
part of the cover. These strips form wicks that dip over into the upper 
pan. 

"The dimensions given make a refrigerator of very convenient size for 
household use and one with efficient evaporating surface, but it is not 
necessary to follow strictly these dimensions. If a larger capacity is 
desired, the height of the refrigerator can be increased. 

Operation 

"The operation of the refrigerator shown in the illustrations is as 
simple as its construction. The lowering of the temperature of the inside 
of the refrigerator depends upon the evaporation of water. To change 
water from a liquid to a vapor, or to bring about evaporation, requires 
heat. As evaporation takes place heat is taken from the inside of the 

^"The original model from which this iceless refrigerator has been adapted was made 
by Mr. Thomas Fullan, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala. 



School and Community Service 




Fig. 3. Framework of the Iceless Refrigerator 



so Bulletin of the Extension Division 



Fig. 4. The Completed Iceless Refrigerator 



School and Community Service 31 

Tefrigerator, thereby lowering the temperature of the inside and the con- 
tents. 

"Keep the upper pan filled with water. The water is drawn by capil- 
lary attraction through the wicks and saturates the cover. Capillary ac- 
tion starts more readily if the cover is first dampened by dipping it into 
water or throwing water upon it with the hand. The greater the rate of 
evaporation the lower the temperature which can be secured; therefore 
the refrigerator works best when rapid evaporation takes place. When 
the refrigerator is placed in a shady place in a strong breeze and the 
air is warm and dry, evaporation takes place continuously and rapidly 
and the temperature inside the refrigerator is reduced. Under ideal condi- 
tions the temperature has been known to be reduced to 50° F. When it is 
damp, and the air is full of moisture, the refrigerator will not work as 
well, since there is not enough evaporation. More water will find its 
way to the lower pan, but it will be drawn up into the covering by capil- 
lary attraction when the air again becomes drier. 

Care of Refrigerator 

"The refrigerator should be regularly cleaned and sunned. If the 
framework, shelves, and pans are white enameled they can more easily be 
kept in a sanitary condition. It is well to have two covers, so that a 
fresh one can be used each week and the soiled one washed and sunned. 

REFERENCES 

Books and Pamphlets 

Bobbitt, J. F. The Curriculum. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1918. $1.50. 
Dewey, John, and Dewey, Evelyn. The Schools of Tomorrow. New York, 

E. P. Dutton and Company, 1915. $1.50. 
Judd, C. H. The Evolution of a Democratic School System. Boston, 

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918. 75 cents. 
Publications of the Extension Division, Indiana University. 

The Community School House. W. S. Bittner. 

Play and Recreation. 
Publications of Purdue University. 

Garden Planning. Experiment Station Bulletin 171. 

Storing Vegetables. Extension Bulletin 55. 
Publications of the United States Bureau of Education. 

A Community Center. What it is and How to Organize it. Bulletin 
No. 11, 1918. 

The Extension of Public Education. A Study in the Wider Use of 
School Buildings. Bulletin No. 28, 1915. Clarence A. Perry. 
Publications of the Extension Division, University of Texas. 

Schoolhouse Meeting, March 15, 1916. 

Programs for Schoolhouse Meetings, October 5, 1916. 

How to Organize and Conduct a School and Community Fair. Amanda 
Stoltzfus, December 10, 1917. 

School Savings Banks, March 20, 1917. 

War Songs for Community Meetings, June 5, 1918. 

University Aid for Community Councils of Defense, June 1, 1918. 

Patriotic Programs for Community Meetings, July 1, 1918. 
Publications of the University of Wisconsin. 

The 'School House as a Civic and Social Center of the Community. 
Edward A. Ward. 



X 




019 605 202 

32 Bulletin of the Extension Division 

The Social Center, A Means of Common Understanding. Woodrow 

Wilson. 
Lessons Learned in Rochester. George M. Forbes. 
Publications of the University of Washington. 

The Social and Civic Center. Edward J. Ward. 
Publications of the Russell Sage Foundation. 
The Community Used School. 
The School as a Factor in Neighborhood Development. Clarence A. 

Perry. 
The Real Snag in Social Center Extension. Clarence A. Perry. 
Publications of the University of Minnesota. 

Community Centers. Raymond V. Phelan. 
Publications of Playground and Recreation Association of America. 

How to Secure a Larger Attendance at Evening Recreation Center 
Meetings for Adults. J. H. Chase. 
Publications of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Farm Home Conveniences. Madge J. Reese. Farmers' Bulletin 927. 
Fly Traps and Their Operation. Farmers' Bulletin 734. 
The Use of Concrete on the Farm. Bulletin 461. 
Publications of the Committee on Public Information. 

Perpetuation of Community Councils of Defense urged by National 
Organization. Official Bulletin 3:7, January 24, 1919. 
Publications of the Council of National Defense. 

Community Councils and Permanent Community Organization. Bul- 
letin No. 20, Circular No. 49, January 17, 1919. 
Publications of the United States Bureau of Education. 

Lessons in Community and National Life. C. H. Judd and L. C. 

Marshall. 
Teaching of Community Civics. Bulletin No. 23, 1915. 
Publications of the Community Motion Picture Bureau. Motion Pictures in 

Councils in Illinois, March, 1919. 
Publications of the Community Motion Picture Bureau. Motion Pictures in 
the Camps, on Transports, Overseas, The Community News, 1:2, 
November, 1918. 
Publications of the Open Forum National Council: The Four Minute 
Men and the Open Forum — a plan for the serious discussion of pub- 
lic matters to make democracy safe for America. 

Periodicals 
National School Service. A bi-monthly publication of the Committee on 

Public Information, Washington, D.C. Was published by the Bureau 

of Education, Division of Educational Extension. 
The Survey Articles. August 31, September 21, September 28, 1918, by 

John Collier. 
School Life. A bi-monthly publication of the Bureau of Education. 
Americanization. A monthly publication of the Bureau of Education. 
School and Society. 
Industrial Arts Magazine. 

The Community Center. Kable Brothers Company, Mount Morris, 111. 
The Open Forum. Published monthly, November to May, by the Open 

Forum National Council, 26 Pemberton Square, Boston. 



019 605 202 1 



HoUinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 



